The idea of establishing the museum dates back to 1997, when the then prime minister of North-Rhine Westphalia, Johannes Rau, supported the construction of the Emil Schumacher Museum in order to ensure a permanent presentation of the artist’s œuvre in his hometown. The same year, the city council decided unanimously that the museum should be finished by August 29, 2002, Emil Schumacher’s 90th birthday. When Emil Schumacher died on October 4, 1999 at the age of 87, mayor Wilfried Horn affirmed, in the presence of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the city’s will to construct the museum. After a three-year construction period, the museum will open on August 28, 2009.